Sunday Saw and Crawl... plus wood ID

[jeffesonm]

The lady next door to me had a bunch of smaller trees cut down in her backyard and said I was welcome to the wood. They're pretty small <12" in diameter but all hardwood and only a few hundred yards away, so why not. I am brand new to chainsawing so it also gives me a chance to practice on smaller stuff.

Yesterday I took off all the limbs and dragged the trunks back over to my place to cut them up. The little Oliver crawler hardly flinched with four logs in tow... need to get some more chains! Also need to make a log sled one day so they don't get so dirty dragging them.

Out in the forest:

Dragged back home:

Mostly cut up... will slit and stack over the next few days and add to my meager but growing wood supply.

What is this one? It was hard to cut.

 

[CageMaster]

not sure on the tree but thats a sweet lil crawler

 

[lukem]

Cherry.

 

[Gasifier]

Nice workhorse you got there jeffesonm. That wood supply will slowly but surely get larger and larger. It has taken me a while but I am now up to a little over 12 cord (or 36 face cord ) I like to tease the "cord" officials on here sometimes.

But before you know it you will have enough for two years. I have to get to work on next years supply and get that cut/split/stacked c/s/s soon. Very soon. I will go through 10 cord in the next 12 months if we have a colder winter. Good work man.

 

[swagler85]

Cherry.

+1

 

[Wood Duck]

That tree you're asking about is Black Birch. It should have smelled like wintergreen or birch beer when you cut it. Cherry would have a darker, reddish center wood. Black Birch is right up there with the best hardwoods.

 

[bogydave]

Nice set up.
You are a natural with a chain saw. Good job
Got the split & stacked pictures yet ? LOL

I'm thinking birch too, but not real sure.
Green leaves on the trees, the leaves here have been gone for weeks .

 

[fahmahbob]

That tree you're asking about is Black Birch. It should have smelled like wintergreen or birch beer when you cut it. Cherry would have a darker, reddish center wood. Black Birch is right up there with the best hardwoods.

+1

 

[gzecc]

Love the Crawler, must be very expensive to maintain and run, is it? How versatile is it?

 

[jeffesonm]

Here is the inside of one of those pieces.

All split and mostly stacked... need a few more pallets so I can finish stacking. Also need to bring all those uglies over to my buddy's house and put them on his splitter.

 

[jeffesonm]

Love the Crawler, must be very expensive to maintain and run, is it? How versatile is it?

Crawler is a 1961 Oliver OC 46... 3 cylinder diesel, about 4 tons with the loader. They go around $2-3000 for a decent one, more or less depending on condition. I bought this one for $1200 and it took another $800 to get it up and running. I've only put probably 20 hours on it but so far so good.... it will probably need new pins and bushings in the tracks at some point which will set me back another $1000 or so. It's as much a hobby toy as a workhorse for me

It does not have a 3 pt hitch so probably less versatile than most wheel tractors. The tracks also tear up the grass pretty good. On the other hand it's damn near impossible to get stuck and pulls like a mule. Also feels more stable on the hills. One day I'd like to make a pallet fork attachment so I can move around pallets of firewood. The guy I bought it from would use the hydro lines to power his splitter. Sure is fun to drive.

 

[ScotO]

Although it does look alot like black birch, the color of that heartwood has me thinking black cherry. What does the wood smell like on that fresh split? If it smells kinda vinegary, it's a cherry. If it smells like wintergreen, it's a black birch.

 

[Halligan]

Nice work. You said you had some trouble cutting one of the tree's and I can't tell that well from the photo but your saw chips look a little small is your chain good and sharp?

 

[Flatbedford]

Nice machine there. Gotta love keeping the old stuff going.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I also vote for Black Birch, or as we call it around here "Cherry Birch".

Very good stuff!

 

[weatherguy]

I thought it was black birch also. Thats a nice little score Jeffeson, decent size trees, easy to handle, the big 30+ inches are a bear, course you have that handly little maching to help out.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The lady next door to me had a bunch of smaller trees cut down in her backyard and said I was welcome to the wood. They're pretty small <12" in diameter but all hardwood and only a few hundred yards away, so why not. I am brand new to chainsawing so it also gives me a chance to practice on smaller stuff.

Yesterday I took off all the limbs and dragged the trunks back over to my place to cut them up. The little Oliver crawler hardly flinched with four logs in tow... need to get some more chains! Also need to make a log sled one day so they don't get so dirty dragging them.

They definitely save getting dirt on the logs which means a lot less sharpening of the chain. Plus, they also drag easier this way.

 

[jeffesonm]

Well inspired by Dennis photo above, I finally got around to making myself a log sled yesterday. Used some old pressure treated landscaping timbers I had lying around along with a few 1/2" bolts. Here's how it turned out:

Maiden voyage was a success... more smaller trees from behind the neighbor's house.

I've got some cutting/splitting/stacking to do over the next week.

 

[cptoneleg]

those leaves are maple, and l will guess Red Maple.

The pictures below what is this one hard to cut, those are maple leaves

 

[milleo]

The log skid thing looks nice, but to me....the track looks loose on the dozer....

 

[jeffesonm]

Tracks are definitely a bit loose and at the end of their adjustment I will need to get new pins/bushings at some point in the near future here.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

That might actually be Red Oak, it has a smoother bark like that, and would be one of your heavy logs. Looks too smooth to me to be cherry or birch, but possible.

 

[jeffesonm]

Got this load all cut up, need to split some of the bigger stuff and find some more pallets to stack it on.

 

[CageMaster]

thats a nice log pulling sled you have.